SILVER SPRING, MD (March 9) --- Thirty-five high school students from Montgomery and Prince George's Counties will receive scholarships to help them attend college at a Tuesday, March 20,  ceremony at Riderwood retirement community, where they have worked part-time. A total of $210,000 was raised by Riderwood residents during the past two months to show their appreciation of the students' work and to help assist them financially in their post-secondary  education.

Each student will receive a $6,000 scholarship. The students are from High Point High School, Paint Branch High School, Springbrook High School, James Hubert Blake High School, Montgomery Blair High School, John F. Kennedy High School, Sherwood High School, and Bladensburg High School.

"Many of our scholarship recipients have worked hard for the past two years to maintain their grades while working at Riderwood  for 12 hours a week," said Fiona Divecha, the community's Philanthropy Manager. "Most students are the first generation in their family to attend college.  We, as a community, want to make an impact on the future of these young adults and feel we can do that by encouraging them to further their education."

This year's scholarship recipients (with their high schools noted) are:

 

First Name             Last Name                         High School

Nicholas                        Adjei                              High Point

Jose                   Aguilar-Arevalo                         High Point

Senovi                    Amegnaglo                           Springbrook

Henry                      Aparacio                                Blake

Abigail                    Asantewaa                              Blake

Mahlet                    Belay                                      Blair

Jade                      Burns                                      Paint Branch

Andy                      Cruze                                      Springbrook

Zubin                     Das                                        High Point

Stacy                     Fuentes-Perez                       Springbrook

Sara-Ruth             Gabriel                                 High Point

Janelle                  Gray                                     Paint Branch

Jennifer                Johnson                                High Point

Shifali                   Kapoor                                  Paint Branch

Genevieve            Koomson                              Paint Branch

Adamatu              Koroma                                 Blair

Handakina           Lintiso                                   High Point

Khadijah              Mansaray                              Bladensburg High

Orlyse                  Mballa                                  Paint Branch

Nyakeh               Minah                                   High Point

Bummah             Ndeh                                    Paint Branch

Rajan                  Negassa                              Springbrook

Adanna               Nwaro                                 Springbrook

Selasi                  Ocloo                                 High Point

Ibukun                Oluremi                               Blake

Olivia                  Oriaku                               Springbrook

Branden             Palma                               Springbrook

Staline               Sipanze                             Sherwood

Solome             Tesemma                          John F Kennedy

Janny               Ukaegbu                           Paint Branch

Joann              Valentine                           Blake

Tracy               Velazquez                         Blake

Daniel             Villard                                Springbrook

Cadijah          Walcott                             Blake

Michael          Young                             High Point

"Not only do students receive scholarships at the end of their tenor at Riderwood, but our residents build relationships with them, ask them about school, and encourage them to keep working hard," said Divecha. "Our residents are good role models for the young adults and serve as examples for what a good education can do for one's life."

More than $1.5 million in scholarship monies since 2002 have been awarded to students who work part-time at Riderwood.